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Sinhalese vs Lao


Lao
Lao
Lao vs Sinhalese


Countries

Countries
Sri Lanka  
Laos  

Total No. Of Countries
1  
14
1  
14

National Language
Sri Lanka  
Laos, Northeastern Thailand  

Second Language
Sri Lanka  
Not spoken in any of the countries  

Speaking Continents
Asia  
Asia  

Minority Language
Not spoken in any of the countries  
Not spoken in any of the countries  

Regulated By
Hela Havula (හෙළ හවුල)  
Not Available  

Interesting Facts
  • In Sinhalese language, there are many loanwords from Dravidian languages mainly Tamil, Portuguese, Dutch and English.
  • Sinhalese language has it own script/ writing system.
  
  • There is no space left between words, only between phrases or sentences in Lao language.
  • The Lao alphabets has been reformed many times over the past 50 years.
  

Similar To
Maldivian Language  
Thai Language  

Derived From
Sanskrit Language  
Pali, Sanskrit and Old Khmer Languages  

Alphabets

Alphabets in
Sinhalese-Alphabets.jpg#200  
Lao-Alphabets.jpg#200  

Alphabets
54  
33
53  
32

Phonology
  
  

How Many Vowels
18  
15
28  
20

How Many Consonants
36  
26
27  
17

Scripts
Sinhala alphabet  
Thai and Lao Braille  

Writing Direction
Left-To-Right, Horizontal  
Left-To-Right, Horizontal  

Hard to Learn
  
  

Language Levels
2  
1
6  
5

Time Taken to Learn
44 weeks  
11
44 weeks  
11

Greetings

Hello
හලෝ (halō)  
ສະບາຍດີ (sába̖ai-di̖i)  

Thank You
ඔබට ස්තුතියි (obaṭa stutiyi)  
ຂອບໃຈ (khàwp ja̖i)  

How Are You?
ඔබ කොහොමද (oba kohomada)  
ສະບາຍດີບ (sába̖ai-di̖i baw?)  

Good Night
සුභ රාත්රියක් (subha rātriyak)  
ໃນຕອນກາງຄືນ ທີ່ດີ (naitonkangkhun thidi)  

Good Evening
සුබ සැන්දෑවක් (suba sændǣvak)  
ສະ​ບາຍ​ດີ​ຕອນ​ແລງ (sa bai di ton aelng)  

Good Afternoon
සුභ සන්ධ්යාවක් (subha sandhyāvak)  
ສະ​ບາຍ​ດີ​ຕອນ​ສວາຍ (sa bai di ton suaai)  

Good Morning
සුභ උදෑසනක් (subha udǣsanak)  
ສະ​ບາຍ​ດີ​ຕອນ​ເຊົ້າ (sa bai di ton sao)  

Please
කරුණාකර (karuṇākara)  
ກະລຸນາ (kaluna)  

Sorry
සමාවන්න (samāvanna)  
ຂໍອະໄພ (khooaphai)  

Bye
බායි (bāyi)  
Sôhk dii der  

I Love You
මම ඔයාට ආදරෙයි (mama oyāṭa ādareyi)  
ຂ້ອຍ​ຮັກ​ເຈົ້າ (khony hak chao)  

Excuse Me
මට සමාවෙන්න (maṭa samāvenna)  
ຂໍ​ໂທດ (kho othd)  

Dialects

Dialect 1
Vedda  
Vientiane Lao  

Where They Speak
Sri Lanka  
Laos  

Dialect 2
Not Available  
Northern Lao  

Where They Speak
Not Available  
Laos  

Dialect 3
Not Available  
Central Lao  

Where They Speak
Not Available  
Laos  

Total No. Of Dialects
1  
1
6  
6

How Many People Speak

How Many People Speak?
16.00 million  
99+
25.00 million  
40

Speaking Population
0.25 %  
99+
Not Available  

Native Speakers
16.00 million  
39
25.00 million  
32

Second Language Speakers
2.00 million  
34
Not Available  

Native Name
සිංහල (sĩhala)  
ພາສາລາວ (pháasaa láo)  

Alternative Names
Cingalese, Singhala, Singhalese, Sinhala  
Eastern Thai, Lào, Lao Kao, Lao Wiang, Lao-Lum, Lao-Noi, Lao-Tai, Laotian, Laotian Tai, Lum Lao, Phou Lao, Rong Kong, Tai Lao  

French Name
singhalais  
lao  

German Name
Singhalesisch  
Laotisch  

Pronunciation
Not Available  
pʰáːsǎː láːw  

Ethnicity
Sinhalese people  
Not Available  

History

Origin
3  
1283 CE  

Language Family
Indo-European Family  
Tai-Kadai Family  

Subgroup
Indo-Iranian  
Tai  

Branch
Indic  
Not Available  

Language Forms
  
  

Early Forms
Sinhalese Prakrit  
No Early forms  

Standard Forms
Modern Sinhalese  
Lao  

Language Position
70  
99+
Not Available  

Signed Forms
Not Available  
Not Available  

Scope
Individual  
Individual  

Code

ISO 639 1
si  
lo  

ISO 639 2
  
  

ISO 639 2/T
sin  
lao  

ISO 639 2/B
sin  
lao  

ISO 639 3
sin  
lao  

ISO 639 6
Not Available  
Not Available  

Glottocode
sinh1246  
laoo1244  

Linguasphere
No data available  
No data available  

Types of Language
  
  

Language Type
Living  
Living  

Language Linguistic Typology
Subject-Object-Verb  
Subject-Verb-Object  

Language Morphological Typology
Fusional  
Isolating  

Countries >>
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Sinhalese and Lao Language History

Comparison of Sinhalese vs Lao language history gives us differences between origin of Sinhalese and Lao language. History of Sinhalese language states that this language originated in 3 whereas history of Lao language states that this language originated in 1283 CE. Family of the language also forms a part of history of that language. More on language families of these languages can be found out on Sinhalese and Lao Language History.

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Sinhalese and Lao Greetings

People around the world use different languages to interact with each other. Even if we cannot communicate fluently in any language, it will always be beneficial to know about some of the common greetings or phrases from that language. This is where Sinhalese and Lao greetings helps you to understand basic phrases in Sinhalese and Lao language. Sinhalese word for "Hello" is හලෝ (halō) or Lao word for "Thank You" is ຂອບໃຈ (khàwp ja̖i). Find more of such common Sinhalese Greetings and Lao Greetings. These greetings will help you to be more confident when conversing with natives that speak these languages.

Sinhalese vs Lao Difficulty

The Sinhalese vs Lao difficulty level basically depends on the number of Sinhalese Alphabets and Lao Alphabets. Also the number of vowels and consonants in the language plays an important role in deciding the difficulty level of that language. The important points to be considered when we compare Sinhalese and Lao are the origin, speaking countries, language family, different greetings, speaking population of these languages. Want to know in Sinhalese and Lao, which language is harder to learn? Time required to learn Sinhalese is 44 weeks while to learn Lao time required is 44 weeks.

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